About the author and this site…

Dr. Gary Martin is a professor at University of the Pacific. With degrees in educational psychology, he has been teaching courses on professionalism and school-to-work since 1983, focusing on Engineering and Cyberethics since 2014. As a bit of a news junkie, he seeks to help students appreciate that this topic is diverse, alive, and well — unfortunately.

Philosopher Joseph Santaya says that those who fail to remember the past are condemned to repeat it. This blog will expose current news related to engineering and cyberethics, in hopes less is repeated down the road. Engineers and computing professionals face countless dilemmas. Sometimes this dilemma is what Philosopher Immanuel Kant might refer to as a “categorical imperative,” that is, that the engineer knows what the moral thing to do is. An example is the apparent gross negligence in the Flint Michigan water case, or the VW defeat device. Other times, it is difficult to tell, such as whether Edward Snowden was a hero or a traitor. The most common ethical compromise, according to the National Society of Professional Engineers, is the failure to report conflicts of interests.

Ethics refers to conduct. We have laws that attempt to curb the most egregious conduct. We then rely on engineers and computing professionals to behave ethically in myriad and countless ways beyond that.

This blog seeks to help society to appreciate the vast realm of engineering and cyberethics in its most current manifestations.

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